Nimekaa hivi tu nikafikiria kweli watu na institutions hutoka mbali saana.
After high school nilipata opportunity ya kuenda kabete technical ( siku hizi inaitwa kabete poly).The year was 2006. Nilikua na the impression that it was a serious learning institution:D:D:D:D.
So tukafanya registration, tulikua tunamaliza around 5pm. Tukaambiwa tutaenda kuishi WHITE HOUSE. So I thought it’s the most luxurious place for new students. Sisi hao mpaka white house.
fuck.
It was a long building divided into twelve cubicles with 6 double decker beds each and one massive window. Nilisikia fununu later ati ilikua horse barn during colonial times, Kisha mwafrika repurposed it for holding learners. I take it as a measure my youth that I was not adequately disappointed to quit schooling mara hio hio.tukalala,tukaamka.
That first week was a lesson on how prison would be like if it incorporated freedom. Second years waliingia the following day pamoja na third years.Room selection yao was an eye opener on what constituted accomodation allocation.wasee walikua wanaweka suitcase kwa room wanatoka. Kidogo wengine wanakuja wanapata hio room imefungwa wanakata kufuli, wanatoa hizo vitu nje. I was amazed to actually see one kichwa kibov roll a suitcase to the entrance of the hostel and kick it down the stairs:D. Needless to say vita ilikithiri hio mchana. Gangs secured their territory by might, strength and numbers. Kufika 6 pm there was a lull in the violence as wanafunzi went for supper and later to n-town (the nearest center) to drink their school fees.
Hio ndio ulikua mtindo that first week. And it wasn’t helped by Julius, the kisii hostel master. Yaani jamaa alikua anareceive bribes live ndio aregister mtu Kwa room. Ladies would pay in kind thru pussy. Yaani Hadi alumni walikua wanapewa accomodation irregularly. Furthermore, niliona watu wameingia na rolls of 1.5mm wire, nikashangaa ni za Nini. Kumbe hakuna stima Kwa rooms ju wire ziliibiwa. You make your connection at the mains meter then unarun hadi Kwa room.neutral unatafutia nje ya window kwa ground. Alafu ju ya the frequent power outages unatafuta redundancy Kwa hostel ingine ama zingine. Ungekua na line hata nne at a go, Moja ikianguka,unaseti a different one. Hapo ndio niliivia practical electrical power engineering.
Why frequent power outages, you may ask. The main reason ilikua kitu inaitwa MEGA. This was a contraption for heating water that I had neither seen before, nor since. It was two sheets of mild steel approximately three inches square separated by insulation (mostly pieces of wood). The individual pieces would then be connected to the live and neutral wires. Ukitaka maji moto unaiweka direct Kwa socket. The mothefucker would boil water in the shortest time possible. I remember seeing a number of megas connected to a power outlet ilikua Kwa ground one morning, and steam just rising like an unholy ghost from the various buckets surrounding it.
(Later nakumbuka niliunda mega ya 5*5 inches nilikua na connect Kwa line Moja ya three phase na neutral hapo class. 20 liters of water ilikua inachemsha in 5 minutes. Ukiiconnect ulikua unaona sparks kama za welding literally ndani ya maji Kwa contact points za wires. Niliacha hio ufala ya that size vile the 2.5mm wires zilishort bila my knowledge. Niliweka ndoo maji, nikaweka mega ndani, nikashikanisha live wire, nikashikanisha neutral, nikaona bright light, nikaona giza. Ile mlipuko ilitoka hapo ustake ona. My fellow students practiced the dark arts of teleportation ju in 2 seconds the class was empty isipokua mimi. Hio ndoo maji turned black with soot na niliangusha line mzima ya hio block. Ilibidi nirudie mega more humble edition)
We used to make water heaters in High School using 2 stainless Steel spoons separated by a gap of 4cm. Hii ilikuwa high wattage water heater so we used to tap power from mains zile zimeenda Kwa Woodwork workshop. Shida ilikuwa with time the insulation failed and the neutral and Live would short and cause a volcano like explosion. Wewe na jug zako za Maji would be steamed alive like crabs. This shit would boil a bucket of 18 liters in less than 4 minutes